| Ice got a bad rap. Now it’s rapping back, humming, even singing, the researchers say,[1] as if they never heard a stream or the tell-all cliché poetic image “babbling brook” . . . as if they never heard the winter wind creaking the neighbor’s maple, or a blizzard’s sustained erratic whistlings. Ice got a bad rap, conversationally people wanting to break the ice instead of listening, a lack of Arctic and Antarctic consciousness wanting to break the ice as if the frozen water was a problem and now there is some big-time ice-breaking, but it is Mother Nature starting the conversation because too many wouldn’t listen, and now we have to listen! “Russia sits on $8.5 trillion oil reserves.”[2] Ice-Breaking News! Polar Bear sits on a chunk of ice and it’s not a photo-op. “The US, Canada, Denmark and Norway have their own claims... The Arctic is believed to hold more than $22 trillion worth of resources hidden beneath the ice, including 90 billion barrels of oil and 47 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.”[3] “The Trump administration on Wednesday delivered another major victory for Big Oil by quietly approving a Texas company's plan to drill in federal Arctic waters six miles off the coast of Alaska.”[4] Ice-Breaking News! Arctic waters aren’t really “federal” and you can’t really “drill” water. “Cooperating with each other is the only way to maintain safety and regional order in the icy region. A coordinated regional approach to Arctic governance under the framework of the Law of the Sea Convention will build confidence and prevent militarization. The time is right for the Arctic Council to turn into a security-focused forum.”[5] Ice-Breaking News! Cooperating with Mother Nature and the Original Peoples must be included in “the only way to maintain safety.” “The Gwich’in people have relied on the Porcupine Caribou Herd for thousands of years, for food, cultural and spiritual needs. The Porcupine Caribou Herd migrates to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge-Coastal Plain every year where they will give birth... we must protect the special place for future generations, so that all the animals that live and migrate to this area will always be protected.” What the Gwich’in call the area translates to “The Sacred Place Where Life Begins.”[6] There’s an old joke, the premise of which is the comedian’s miserliness (though actually a generous man),[7] Mugger: Your money or your life. (long, awkward pause) Mugger: Look bud. I said, your money or your life. Jack Benny: I'm thinking it over![8] Can you hear what’s being said in the ice-cracking? (Odds are it’s not a joke.) Can you see – instead of $ signs – the sacredness of all Life? Instead of measuring barrels and cubic meters, can you feel the fuzzy antlers of a Porcupine Caribou? Ice-breaking, Earth-quaking, Now we have to listen . . . PS - To hear the “Antarctic Ice Shelf” 43 second audio, click NOTES-1 link. NOTES: 1. “Scientists Study Ice Shelf by Listening to Its Changing Sounds” 2. “Militarization of Arctic: Issue of Incredible Importance Not Given Due Attention to” 3. Ibid. 4. “'Disaster Waiting to Happen' as Trump Quietly Approves Massive Oil Drilling Project in Arctic Waters Off Alaska Coast” 5. “Militarization of Arctic: Issue of Incredible Importance Not Given Due Attention to” 6. “Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge!” 7. “5 things you didn't know about Jack Benny” 8. Broadcast on Jack Benny radio program, 28 March 1948 Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is an essayist and resident poet at Axis of Logic. In addition to his work as a writer and small press publisher, he travels a holistic mystic pathway staying in touch with Turtle Island. See his new book of nonfiction with a poetic touch, “photo albums of the heart-mind”. ScribeVibe Blogpage © Copyright 2018 by AxisofLogic.com This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you! |